Stage 6, September 8th, 2011
Today's stage we ran 37km from Scuol to Mals Italy. The elevation gain was 1332 meters, and loss was 1474 meters.
When I woke up this morning I had my doubts how today’s
stage would go. After having only 3 hours sleep, rushing around, running late
and Rene realizing she had lost her running poles at the previous
stage…..stress was in the air!!
But all of that dissipated the minute the starting horn
blared. We had a really nice start to today’s stage-through Scuol, and a nice
gradual, winding descent for 6-7 km.
I set out, trying to de-stress, relax and find a nice, comfortable pace.
It took me only a couple of km, and I had found a nice, relaxed rhythm.
Next thing we knew, we were already 12 km in, and soon were
at the first aid station!! People were noticeably hurting, and some were quite
sickL
After the first aid station, we found ourselves climbing
into one of the most spectacular areas I have ever seen. The trail hugged the
mountain, and it was cut out of the rock! There were caves to go through, and
some really steep drops!!! It was stunning!!!
After this area, it was mainly undulating to the next aid
station. After the 2nd aid station, it was a steep descent, and
continued to descend for nearly 13kms!!
I picked up my pace after the 2nd aid station because there
was a girl running who was vomiting and running. People that know me, know that
I cannot handle vomit – so I picked up the pace to drop “vomit girl”. Poor Rene!!!
The last 5km was on a winding pathway heading into the
Italian town of Mals. This was
tough on the body, and we were very happy to see the finish line!! We were even
happier to see that we managed to come in 6th place in the women’s
field, and to have found pizza!!!
We’re not too sure how many runners have dropped out or have
been disqualified (didn’t make time cutoffs, etc….), but there are a lot of
solo runners out there. There are a lot of hurting bodies, and sick people in
the field too.
I felt like I was in a Euphoric Running state almost the
whole day, like my body was not
even touching the ground. It was so nice to have quiet out on the trails today
and to really get to connect with myself and take in all the scenery.
The weather was perfect for running- overcast with some
light wind at the summits and a little bit of drizzle. Let’s hope the weather
co-operates for the next 2 stages. Tomorrow’s stage has some tough climbing,
but we will just see what tomorrow bringsJ
Welcome to ITALY!!!!
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